Last cap for counter-gauging last



April 3, 1962 c. F. BATCHELDER ETAL 2 LAST CAP FOR COUNTER-GAUGING LAST Filed April 21, 1961 .m w s RD Y LO M E m3 w m W w w 1% f A FA WJ, E

HEY W CJ United States Patent Gfiice 3,627,579 Patented Apr. 3, 1962 3,027,579 LAST CAP FOR CGUNTER-GAUGING LAST Charles F. Batchelder, Milton, and Jerome A. Rubico, Boston, Mass., assignors to Batchelder Rubico, Inc., Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Apr. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 104,593 5 Claims. (Cl. 12136) This invention comprises a new and improved last cap adapted to be assembled with and form a permanent part of a last in providing the last with an effective gauge for locating at exactly the correct height the counter portion of an upper to be lasted thereon.

Traditionally shoe lasts have been made with 'a cap or bumper covering the top of the truncated cone of the wood of the back of the last. These caps have been made of leather, fibre, or plastics or combinations thereof, through which the thimble or sleeve of the spindle hole extends downwardly into the wood of the last. The purpose of these caps has been to provide a firm but resilien-t cushioning bumper to absorb some of the impact and pressure put on the heel part of the last by nailing, sole laying and other operations currently used in shoe manufacture. These bumpers save damage to and minimize the danger of splitting the back part of the lasts.

We have found that the important advantages can be achieved economically if the overhanging cap is made to contact only the highest part of the counter portion of the shoe upper, without contacting a longer length of the top of the upper as it curves heightwise around the back of the shoe. This simple limitation greatly reduces the difliculties and cost of preparing lasts for shoe makrug.

Our present invention contemplates a cap of novel construction which allows shoes to be made in accordance with the above principle, and allows lasts to be made therefor at lessened cost.

Current practice in last making employs caps which are made larger than the area they are to cover. These caps are nailed to the wood before the hole for the spindle is bored and the thimble inserted. Thereafter the excess material is trimmed off, and the edges sanded smooth. The waste of material, and the costs of trimming and sanding the edges of the caps are saved by using thr cap of our present invention.

The cap of our new invention is made as a finished article of manufacture for incorporation in a shoe last, and requiring no subsequent trimming or finishing. The rear part of this cap is made approximately semi-circular with a radius some three-sixteenths of an inch greater than that of the back part of the top of the truncated cone of the last which it is to cover. The underside of the back part of the cap is made with a semi-annular depending crescent-shaped area about one-sixteenth of an inch deeper than the thickness of the rest of the cap. This construction forms a semi-circular cup or recess into which the back of the last top fits when the cap is assembled on the last. The positioning of the cap on the last is thereby made easy and accurate. The forward part of our new cap may be made coincident in shape or slightly narrower and shorter than the top of the cone of the last, so that no excess need be trimmed off.

The cap of this invention may be made of leather, fibre, plastic or other material having the desired properties of firmness and resilience, or of a combination of such materials. It may be made by molding in plastic, stamping or by cutting and machining.

Other features and characteristics of our invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of an upper lasted upon a last equipped with our novel cap,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view on a larger scale of the cap and a portion of the last, and

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective of the cap in inverted position.

The last, as herein shown, is of conventional shape including as it does a heel part 10 and a forepart 11, that are hinged together so that the last may be collapsed and removed from the finished shoe. The heel part of the last is shaped to receive and conform the counter portion of the upper and tapers upwardly in conical form.

Our novel last cap, as best shown in FIG. 3, has a body 12 that coincides substantially in contour with the fiat area of the topof the last cone. It has a flat beveled front edge face 13 disposed in flush relation with the front face of the last part 10, or it may be inwardly olfset but in no case does it require trimming.

The body 12 of the cap is elongated somewhat as compared with the area of the last cone and its rear end is shaped to provide a crescent shaped, forwardly concave rib or shoulder 14 projecting downwardly (in FIG. 2) and having a radius of curvature to fit the rear curved surface of the last cone as above explained. In practice this radius of curvature is made slightly greater than that of the last cone and the depth of the shoulder 14 is such that it is adapted to act as a solid stop or positive abutment when engaged with the last cone.

The side walls of the cap body 12 are shaped to make flush relation with the side surfaces of the last cone ex cept when they bulge slightly in merging into the shouldered rear end of the cap. The cap may be also provided with nail holes and a symmetrically located hole 15 for the last thimble, or the thimble hole may be drilled after the cap has been preliminarily attached to the last.

It will be apparent therefore that the cap 12 may be easily and accurately assembled on the last cone 10 by merely sliding it forwardly on the fiat upper face of the cone until the shoulder 14 brings it against the last. When this position is reached the cap may be secured in position by nails 17 and the usual thimble 16.

It will be seen that the rib 14 encircles the rear surface of the last cone and provides a gauge for positively determining with great accuracy the proper position of' the top edge of the counter portion of the upper when the upper is first assembled on the last. This step is of course extremely critical and determines more than any other the quality of shoem-aking that is being practiced.

It will be understood that the thickness of the cap body 12 will be graded or adjusted to the overall height of the last. The thickness or depth of the thickened portion of the cap will be adjusted to compensate for differences in the overall height of the last and the height of the upper to be assembled thereon.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a shoe last, a cap having its rear end shaped to extend outwardly beyond and dependingly below the top surface of the body of the back part of the last on which it is incorporated.

2. A cap for a shoe last, said cap having a portion of semi-annular area around its rear end that. is thicker or deeper on its under side than the thickness of the remaining area of the cap.

3. As an article of manufacture a shoe last cap or bumper of resilient material shaped to coincide substantially with the flat area of the cone of a last and to project rearwardly beyond the rear surface of the last in a crescent shaped shoulder, forwardly concaved to fit the said rear surface of the last and provide a gauge for the counter of a shoe upper on the last.

4. A shoe last having a cap so shaped that its rear end is larger in area than and overhangs the top area of the truncated cone of the last on which it is applied, said overhanging area being made of a depth or thickness equal to the difference between the overall height of the back section of the last and the designed height of the back of the counter portion of the upper of the shoe to be lasted thereon.

4 5. A shoe last having a cap of the type described in claim 4 in which substantially all of its extended overhanging portion is made thicker or deeper than the part of the cap which is to rest on the top of the truncated 6 cone of the heel section of the last on which it is applied.

No references cited. 

